Question:medium

P: Passengers were told to be ready to quit the ship
Q: The rising gale fanned the smoldering fire.
R: Everyone now knew there was fire on board.
S: Flames broke out here and there.

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Focus on the word "smoldering," which tells you the fire has not yet produced open flames.
Updated On: Jul 20, 2026
  • SRQP
  • QPSR
  • RSPQ
  • QSRP
  • PQRS
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The Correct Option is D

Solution and Explanation

The key to ordering this passage is the word "smoldering" in fragment Q, which describes a fire that is burning slowly without visible flame.

  1. Since Q describes the fire as still "smoldering," it must come before any fragment that mentions flames actually appearing. That rules out Q coming after S.
  2. S, "Flames broke out here and there," is the direct result of the gale fanning the smoldering fire in Q, so S follows Q.
  3. R, "Everyone now knew there was fire on board," follows naturally once flames are visible, since that is what alerts people to the danger.
  4. P, "Passengers were told to be ready to quit the ship," is the resulting evacuation order once the fire is confirmed, so it comes last.

This gives the sequence Q, S, R, P.

Note: this differs from the answer key's SRQP, because placing "flames broke out" (S) before "the rising gale fanned the smoldering fire" (Q) would mean the fire is called "smoldering" again right after it has already produced open flames, which is not consistent. QSRP is the verified answer.

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